FORMAT: BLU-RAY
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
(As posted on October 17th, 2016)
You know it’s been sixteen years since we last had an honest to God(zilla) Japanese Godzilla movie in theaters? That of course, was the fun Godzilla 2000. Before that, the last Japanese-made Godzilla flick was fifteen years prior, Godzilla 1985. That’s a bit of a sad trend. Even though this new flick, Shin Godzilla has its share of problems, I have to say one thing to the people at Toho: Please do not wait another decade and a half to give us another Godzilla feature in theaters. I’ll be in my mid-‘50s by then.
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I have to say, I like how this was released. It was only in theaters for a few days in a limited amount of screens. This release was for fans like me who love Godzilla and know that the only proper way to see him is projected thirty feet high on the big screen. I’m glad too because I think if I saw it at home on the small screen, I might have been a tad underwhelmed. I hope more fringe release titles are able to see the light of day in this manner. (Rob Zombie’s 31 also had a similar release.)
Shin Godzilla isn’t necessarily a bad Godzilla movie, but it’s definitely a third-tier sequel. It’s set in the “Reboot” mode where Godzilla is a new phenomenon that has never stomped on Tokyo before. That is fine. As a Godzilla fan, we expect to get one of these every couple of years. Sadly, most of the films that are set in this mold (which include the original film and the previously mentioned Godzilla 1985) are interchangeable in both content and entertainment value.
For me, the “VS” movies are usually better. They may be a bit uneven in terms of quality, but at least the plot can focus on multiple monsters, which gives us less time on the dispensable human characters. Heck, even the “Friend to Children” films at least have their WTF moments. Maybe that’s why I liked the 2014 Godzilla so much. It managed to take the best parts of Godzilla’s Reboot, VS, and Friend to Children subgenres and blended them all together in a satisfying way.
Sadly, this is a straight Reboot tale, but one that has its fair share of rewards.
Speaking of tails (see what I did there?), the political infrastructure of Japan is worried when a giant tail is seen off the coast of Tokyo splashing around and smashing tunnels. Eventually, the bug-eyed beast emerges and runs around the streets of Tokyo knocking down buildings and causing the politicians all kinds of headaches. Once the monster returns to the sea, the politicians begin to rebuild, but it doesn’t take long for the monster to grow to enormous size and become the Godzilla we all know and love.
Actually, he’s not quite the Godzilla we’ve seen before. This time out, he has red stripes that glow in the dark and pulsate whenever he’s about to shoot his fire breath. Some may not like this change, but I dug it. It’s like Godzilla went to the body shop and got a lot of Fast and Furious type of modifications. Among the modifications this incarnation has: A mandible mouth a la Predator that gives his fire breath and nuclear rays an even larger stream. He also has a bunch of blowholes down his spine that gives him the ability to shoot his rays out of his back so that he looks like a one-man disco ball dance party. Also, his tail is equipped with the same ability, so now he can not only level buildings with his tail; he can shoot them down with lasers too.
The opening scenes of the tail in the water are a lot like the appearance the shark fin in Jaws. It’s a great way to tease Godzilla’s presence without showing him, allowing for the big payoff reveal later on. Once he finds land, the baby Godzilla looks ridiculous, but in a good way. He resembles a giant rooster and even walks like one too. Like Mothra, Godzilla has a life cycle in this one and every time you see him, he looks a bit different and/or shows off some brand new ability that the government isn’t prepared for.
Most of the human-based drama deals with the government officials as they decide what to do with Godzilla. What’s surprising is that the first act, which shows all the various channels and red tape-cutting the officials must go through in order to do something about the monster is fast-paced and involving. Had the filmmakers used the same rapid-cut style for the other human sequences throughout the film, the whole thing would’ve flowed better. I mean the flick clocks in at nearly two hours, which is really about thirty minutes longer than a Godzilla flick really has to be.
Let’s face it; we go into a Godzilla movie expecting things to slow down whenever you cut away to the humans. Yes, when Godzilla is on screen, it’s fun, and that’s what really matters. However, at one point, Godzilla literally stops dead in his tracks, and when he does, so does the film.
A lot of my criticisms won’t mean much to die-hard fans. At the end of the day, we got another Japanese Godzilla movie on the big screen, and that alone is victory enough. I just wish it was a bit better.
AKA: Godzilla: Resurgence. AKA: God Godzilla. AKA: New Godzilla. AKA: True Godzilla.
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